Linguistics is a cross-disciplinary program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences designed to meet the needs of students interested in various aspects of language—its structure, history, varieties, meanings, and uses. The program includes courses in anthropology, communication disorders, computer science, English, psychology, and speech communication and world languages and cultures, thus providing a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of human language.
Courses in linguistics serve as background for students interested in any career that involves working with language, such as teaching English both as a first and as a second language, second language studies, psycholinguistics, cross-cultural communication, linguistic anthropology, computational linguistics, speech-language pathology, and audiology.
In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, courses in linguistics can be applied as electives or as part of the group requirements. They may also be used in a minor or in a major.
Majors in linguistics complete a minimum of 36 hours in linguistics with a grade of C or better in each linguistics course. Courses specifically required are:
| LING 119 | Introduction to World Languages | 3 |
| LING 120 | Computers and Language | 3 |
| LING 207 | Introduction to Symbolic Logic | 3 |
| LING 219 | Introduction to Linguistics | 3 |
| LING 220 | Descriptive English Grammar | 3 |
| LING 371 | Phonetics and Phonology | 3 |
| LING 413 | Psychology of Language | 3 |
| LING 420 | History of the English Language | 3 |
| LING 437 | Grammatical Analysis | 3 |
In addition, linguistics majors must choose 9 credits of elective courses. Discuss choices with the advisor. Suggested areas of further study are:
Communication Disorders
| LING 275 | Introduction to Communication Disorders | 3 |
| LING 286 | Communicating with the Deaf | 3 |
| LING 471 | Language and Reading Development in Children | 3 |
| CMDIS 480B | Topics in Communication Disorders: Articulation and Phonological Disorders | 3 |
Computers and Linguistics
| LING 320 | Topics in Linguistic Structure | 3 |
| LING 331 | Theory of Computing | 3 |
| LING 410 | Language as Data | 3 |
Second Language Studies
| ENGL 322 | Language and Society | 3 |
| ENGL 324 | Introduction to Teaching ESL Literacy | 3 |
| ENGL 325 | Teaching Methods for ESL Learners: Oral Communication Skills | 3 |
| LING 425 | Second Language Learning and Teaching | 3 |
Sociolinguistics and Language
| LING 305 | Language, Thought and Action | 3 |
| ENGL 319 | Studies in Language and Diversity | 3 |
| ENGL 322 | Language and Society | 3 |
| COMST 325 | Nonverbal Communication | 3 |
| LING 422 | Women, Men, and the English Language | 3 |
Spanish Linguistics
| LING 351 | Introduction to Spanish-English Translation | 3 |
| LING 352 | Spanish Pronunciation | 3 |
| LING 354 | Introduction to Spanish-English Interpretation | 3 |
| LING 462 | Contrastive Analysis of Spanish/ English for Translators | 3 |
| LING 463 | Contemporary Spanish Linguistics | 3 |
Additional courses in linguistics may include ANTHR 309 and special topics offered through LING 319 and 320, which are repeatable. They also include courses for study abroad, especially LING 395, and independent studies through LING 490. Majors in linguistics must show proficiency in a second language equivalent to that achieved after two years of university-level study. Alternatively, majors in linguistics can demonstrate university-level study in two other languages of at least one year each.
Minors in linguistics are individually tailored to the interests of the student, who consults with the linguistics advisor to develop the minor program of study. All minors must have a minimum of 15 credits in linguistics, of which 6 must be in courses numbered over 300. The minor must include at least 9 credits that are not used to meet any other department, college, or university requirement. All programs must include LING 219 Introduction to Linguistics.
Communication Proficiency requirement: According to the university-wide Communication Proficiency Grade Requirement, students must demonstrate their communication proficiency by earning a grade of C or better in ENGL 250.
| ENGL 150 | Critical Thinking and Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 250 | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition | 3 |
| or ENGL 250H | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition: Honors | |
| LIB 160 | Information Literacy | 1 |
| Continuing Communication Proficiency is based on one course from ENGL 314, a WLC 370-379 course, or a CL ST 370-379 course. | ||
For information about using linguistics courses in an interdisciplinary studies major, see Liberal Arts and Sciences, Cross-Disciplinary Studies.
Linguistics, B.A.
| Freshman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| ENGL 150 | 3 | LING 101 | 1 |
| LIB 160 | 1 | Humanities Choice | 3 |
| World Language/Elective | 4 | Math Choice | 3 |
| LING 119 | 3 | PSYCH 101 | 3 |
| LING 120 | 3 | World Language/Elective | 4 |
| Natural Science Choice | 3 | ||
| 17 | 14 | ||
| Sophomore | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| ENGL 250 | 3 | LING 371 | 3 |
| LING 219 | 3 | World Language 202 | 4 |
| ANTHR 201 | 3 | LING 220 | 3 |
| Humanities Choice | 3 | Humanities Choice | 3 |
| World Language 201 | 4 | Social Science Choice | 3 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Junior | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| LING 309 | 3 | LING 207 | 3 |
| LING 437 | 3 | LING 413 | 3 |
| ENGL 305, 314 or WLC 370-378 | 3 | LING 420 | 3 |
| Natural Science Choice | 3 | Natural Science Choice | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Senior | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| LING Area of Concentration | 3 | LING Area of Concentration | 3 |
| U.S. Diversity | 3 | Electives | 10 |
| Electives | 8 | ||
| 14 | 13 | ||
LAS majors require a minimum of 120 credits, including a minimum of 45 credits at the 300/400 level | |
Students in all ISU majors must complete a three-credit course in U.S. diversity and a three-credit course in international perspectives. Check (http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/courses/div-ip-guide.html) for a list of approved courses. |
Graduate Study
A graduate minor in linguistics permits students to investigate various aspects of linguistics, emphasizing the ability to think about language in a systematic and disciplined way and to apply the methods of the field to research problems in their own disciplines. Graduate courses for the minor may be cross-listed with courses in Anthropology, Communication Disorders, Computer Science, English, Psychology, and World Languages and Cultures.
For the master’s degree, a declared minor consists of 9 credits in linguistics including two foundation courses:
| LING 511 | Introduction to Linguistic Analysis | 3 |
| One of the following: | 3 | |
| Sociolinguistics | ||
| Discourse Analysis | ||
| Corpus Approaches to Grammatical Analysis | ||
| And one elective from the list of courses approved for graduate credit | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 9 | |
For the Ph.D. degree, the minor consists of 12 credits in linguistics including:
| LING 511 | Introduction to Linguistic Analysis | 3 |
| LING 537 | Corpus Approaches to Grammatical Analysis | 3 |
| And two electives from the list of courses approved for graduate credit | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 12 | |
Additional courses beyond those listed below may be used as electives. The chair of the supervisory committee can provide information about these.
At least one member of the linguistics faculty will serve on a student’s program of study committee. A list of faculty members may be obtained from the Linguistics program website. Ph.D. candidates will write one section of the preliminary examination on an area of linguistics. Students in Teaching English as a Second Language/Applied Linguistics are not eligible for a graduate minor in linguistics.
Courses
Courses primarily for undergraduates:
(1-0) Cr. 1. S.
Cross-disciplinary perspectives on the study of linguistics. Applications of linguistics to real world problems. Careers in linguistics.
(Cross-listed with WLC). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Study of language diversity and the personal, social and political effects of diversity. Language families, attitudes toward language and language use, language and culture, multilingualism, foreign language learning, written codes, official languages, and language policy.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Introduction to the use of linguistic knowledge in computer applications today and the basic computational techniques used in such applications. The development of these techniques throughout the history of computational linguistics. How the study of language has contributed to the advancement of technology and how certain computational problems have influenced the way linguists study language.
(Cross-listed with PHIL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Introduction to fundamental logical concepts and logical symbolism. Development of natural deduction through first order predicate logic with identity. Applications to arguments in ordinary English and to philosophical issues. Linguistics majors should take LING/PHIL 207 as early as possible.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: Sophomore classification
Introduction to linguistic concepts and principles of linguistic analysis with English as the primary source of data. Sound and writing systems, sentence structure, vocabulary, and meaning. Issues in the study of usage, regional and social dialects, language acquisition, and language change.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Overview of grammatical structures and functions. Parts of speech; phrase, clause, and sentence structure; sentence types and sentence analysis; rhetorical grammar and sentence style; terminology. Not a remedial, English composition, or ESL course.
(Cross-listed with CMDIS). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Survey of nature, causes, and types of major communication disorders including phonological, adult and child language, voice, cleft palate, fluency, and hearing disorders.
(Cross-listed with CMDIS). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Learn to communicate with the deaf using Signed English and Signed Pidgin English. Other topics covered include types, causes, and consequences of hearing loss, hearing technology (hearing aids, assistive listening devices, and cochlear implants), education of hearing-impaired children, Deaf culture, and the history of manual communication.
Meets U.S. Diversity Requirement
(Cross-listed with SP CM). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: ENGL 250
The study of symbolic processes and how meaning is conveyed in words, sentences, and utterances; discussion of modern theories of meaning; and an exploration of relationships among language, thought and action.
(Cross-listed with ANTHR). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: ANTHR 201 recommended
Introduction to study of language, culture and society from an anthropological perspective. Focus on language and thought, ethnography of speaking, discourse and narrative, writing and literacy, and media communication. Discussion of key theories and methods of linguistic anthropology.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: ENGL/LING 219
Introduction to methods and materials for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) for elementary and secondary students. Strategies and resources for teaching reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Elementary Education students must take this course in the same semester as either EDUC 280S or EDUC 480S.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits. F.
Prereq: ENGL 250
Special topics related to the role of language and linguistics in US diversity, such as Dialects and American literature, American English Accents, Legal and Social Aspects of English-only Laws in the US. Connections between language use and social diversity.
Meets U.S. Diversity Requirement
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits. S.
Prereq: ENGL 219/LING 219, ENGL 220/LING 220
Special topics related to the study of linguistic structure. Focus on language structure in areas not covered in detail by existing courses. Topics include field linguistics, morphology, forensic linguistics, neurolinguistics, semantics, non-English phonology, acoustic phonetics, linguistic universals, and historical linguistics.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: ENGL/LING 219
Introduction to variation in language use in society. Survey of factors affecting language use, including background characteristics of language users, location, and purpose of interaction in addition to institutional, state, and national language policies.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: ENGL/LING 219
Introduction to the issues and methods involved in teaching literacy skills to English as a second language (ESL) learners. The nature of literacy and materials and methods for developing ESL literacy at the middle school, high school, and adult ages across multiple levels of competency.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: ENGL/LING 219
Issues and methods in teaching oral communication skills (listening, speaking, pronunciation) to English as a second language (ESL) learners. The nature of oral language ability. Materials and Methods for developing oral communication skills at middle school, high school, and adult contexts.
(Cross-listed with COM S). (3-1) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: Minimum of C- in COM S 228, MATH 166, and in COM S 230 or CPR E 310; ENGL 250
Models of computation: finite state automata, pushdown automata and Turing machines. Study of grammars and their relation to automata. Limits of digital computation, unsolvability and Church-Turing thesis. Relations between classes of languages.
(Cross-listed with SPAN). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: SPAN 303A or SPAN 303B or SPAN 304
Introduction to the theory, methods, techniques, and problems of translation. Consideration of material from business, literature, and the social sciences. Taught in Spanish.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Dual-listed with LING 554). (Cross-listed with SPAN). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: SPAN 351
Introduction to the theory, methods, techniques, and problems of consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. Consideration of material from business, agriculture, law, design, medicine, literature, advertisement, and sports. Taught in Spanish.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Cross-listed with CMDIS). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: ENGL 219
Terminology, theory, research, and applications of the science of the sounds of spoken language. Emphasis on American English and International Phonetic Alphabet.
Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 2 times.
Instruction in issues of language policy, practice and learning. Observation and experience with language use outside of the United States.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: Junior standing
Methods of discovering language patterns in text documents solve practical text analysis problems in the disciplines. Fundamentals of linguistics and its role in text analysis. Practice writing R scripts to perform text analysis and visualize textual data.
(Cross-listed with PSYCH). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: PSYCH 101
Introduction to psycholinguistics. Topics may include origin of language, speech perception, language comprehension, reading, bilingualism, brain bases of language, and computational modeling of language processes.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: ENGL 219 or LING 219, ENGL 220 or LING 220
Comparison of English to other languages by family background and by type. Analysis of representative Old, Middle, Early Modern and present-day English texts, including both literary works and non-literary documents.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: ENGL 219 or LING 219; junior classification
The process of second language learning and principles and techniques of teaching second languages. Learning and teaching in specific situations and for particular purposes. Current applications of technology in teaching and assessment.
(Cross-listed with SPAN). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: SPAN 351
Linguistic study of the major differences between the Spanish and English grammatical systems and their applications in the translation of Spanish to English. Taught in Spanish.
(Dual-listed with LING 563). (Cross-listed with SPAN). (3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits.
Prereq: SPAN 352
Study of various topics related to the Spanish language. Topics may include bilingualism, historical linguistics and dialectology, Spanish in the U.S., language assessment, computer-assisted language learning and instruction, and second language acquisition. Taught in Spanish.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Cross-listed with EDUC, WLC). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 25 credits in a world language
Planning, implementation, and assessment of standards-based, student-centered, and thematic instruction in the elementary (K-8) classroom. Special emphasis on K-8 students' communicative skills, cultural knowledge, and content learning.
(Cross-listed with EDUC, WLC). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 25 credits in a world language, Admitted to Educator Preparation Program, OPI
Theories and principles of contemporary world language learning and teaching. Special emphasis on designing instruction and assessments for active learning.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. arr. Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits. F.S.
Prereq: 9 credits in English beyond ENGL 250 appropriate to the section taken, junior classification, permission of Undergraduate Studies Committee or Linguistics Advisor
Designed to meet the needs of students who wish to study in areas other than those in which courses are offered.
No more than 9 credits of ENGL 490 may be used toward graduation.
(Cross-listed with ANTHR). Cr. 1-5. Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits.
Prereq: 9 credits in anthropology.
No more than 9 credits of Anthr 490 may be counted toward graduation.
(Cross-listed with CMDIS). Cr. 1-2. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits. F.S.SS.
Prereq: CMDIS/LING 371;471; completion or concurrent enrollment in CMDIS/LING 480A or 480B or 480C
Guided observation of clinical evaluation and treatment in Communication Disorders on campus and in the community. Assessed service learning component.
Courses primarily for graduate students, open to qualified undergraduates:
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: Graduate classification
Use of software and web applications for language teaching, linguistic analysis, and statistical analysis. Issues and problems in applied linguistics related to computer methods.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: Graduate classification
Principles and methods of linguistic analysis with emphasis on phonology, morphology, and syntax. Description of linguistic variation and current theoretical approaches to linguistics.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: ENGL 511 or LING 511 or an introductory course in linguistics
Theories and methods of examining language in its social setting. Analysis of individual characteristics (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, social class, region), interactional factors (e.g., situation, topic, purpose) and national policies affecting language use.
(Cross-listed with ENGL, HCI). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: STAT 330 or equivalent, recommended ENGL 219 or LING 219, or ENGL 511 or LING 511
Introduction to computational techniques involving human language and speech in applications such as information retrieval and extraction, automatic text categorization, word prediction, intelligent Web searching, spelling and grammar checking, speech recognition and synthesis, statistical machine translation, n-grams, POS-tagging, word-sense disambiguation, on-line lexicons and thesauri, markup languages, corpus analysis, and Python programming language.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered even-numbered years.
Prereq: ENGL 219/LING 219 or equivalent.
Data and knowledge structures for formal representation of natural language and speech data. Designing and implementing algorithms for automating linguistic analysis tasks. Conceptual issues for natural language and speech processing programming.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered even-numbered years.
Prereq: ENGL 511 or LING 511 or an introductory course in Linguistics
Corpus linguistics methods of language analysis, including corpus design, construction and annotation; data in corpus studies; tools and methods of analysis. Corpus methods applied in vocabulary, grammar, register and dialect variation, language change, pragmatics, semantics, stylistics, language learning and teaching, and language testing.
(Cross-listed with ENGL, HCI). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: ENGL 510 or LING 510, and ENGL 511 or LING 511
Concepts and practices for analysis of English by computer with emphasis on the applications of computational analysis to problems in applied linguistics such as corpus analysis and recognition of learner language in computer-assisted learning and language assessment.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered even-numbered years.
Prereq: ENGL 511 or LING 511 or an introductory course in linguistics
Theoretical and practical issues and techniques in the teaching of literacy in a variety of contexts, involving children and adults at basic skill levels and teens and adults in academic and vocational programs.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered odd-numbered years.
Prereq: ENGL 511 or LING 511 or an introductory course in linguistics
Theoretical and practical issues and techniques in the teaching of second language pronunciation as it relates to other areas of language, especially listening and speaking skills. Topics will include segmental and suprasegmental features; intelligibility; pronunciation in language assessment; classroom, technology and individual instruction; and research issues. Topics will be relevant to those intending to teach or research in various contexts.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered odd-numbered years.
Prereq: ENGL 511 or LING 511 or an introductory course in linguistics
Methods and theoretical foundations for linguistic approaches to discourse analysis. Applications of discourse analysis to the study of texts in a variety of settings, including academic and research contexts.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: ENGL 511 or LING 511 or an introductory course in linguistics
Issues and techniques in analyzing, teaching, and assessing English for specific purposes. Topics include theories of specific purpose language use, analysis of learner needs in target language contexts, and corpus-informed syllabus and materials development for teaching and assessment.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered even-numbered years.
Prereq: ENGL 219 or ENGL 511 or equivalent.
Structure and description of oral language and discourse. How spoken language is linguistically described, analyzed, and taught for research and for education. Using technology to record, transcribe, and analyze spoken language at all levels of linguistic structure.
(Dual-listed with LING 354). (Cross-listed with SPAN). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: SPAN 351
Introduction to the theory, methods, techniques, and problems of consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. Consideration of material from business, agriculture, law, design, medicine, literature, advertisement, and sports. Taught in Spanish.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Dual-listed with LING 463). (Cross-listed with SPAN). (3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits.
Prereq: SPAN 352
Study of various topics related to the Spanish language. Topics may include bilingualism, historical linguistics and dialectology, Spanish in the U.S., language assessment, computer-assisted language learning and instruction, and second language acquisition. Taught in Spanish.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (1-5) Cr. 3. F.S.SS.
Prereq: 9 credits toward the TESL/TEFL Certificate, 15 credits toward the TESL/AL master's degree, or 18 credits completed toward the ESL Endorsement option.
Intensive observation of ESL instruction and supervised practice in teaching learners of English in a context appropriate to the student teacher's goals.
ENGL 588 cannot be used for teacher licensure and cannot be taken during student teaching.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. arr. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of the Director of Graduate Education according to guidelines available online
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. arr. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of the Director of Graduate Education according to guidelines available online
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. arr. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of the Director of Graduate Education according to guidelines available online
(3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits.
Prereq: 6 credits in TESL/Applied Linguistics
Intensive study of applied linguistic theory as it relates to specific issues in language acquisition, teaching, or use.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. arr. Repeatable.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). Cr. arr. Repeatable.
Courses for graduate students:
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable.
Survey of research methods used in applied linguistics. Focus on conceptualizing and conducting research studies, including the process of developing research questions, gathering data, choosing data collection measures, and coding and analyzing data. Examples from a range of research approaches in the journals in applied linguistics and related areas are evaluated. The course prepares students to be critical consumers of quantitative and qualitative applied linguistics research and able to design and carry out their own research studies.
(Cross-listed with ENGL). (3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable.
Prereq: ENGL 510 or LING 510, ENGL 511 or LING 511
Topic changes each semester. Topics include advanced methods in natural language processing, technology and literacy in a global context, feedback in CALL programs, technology and pronunciation, and advances in language assessment.